Chocolate Ganache is smooth, silky, shiny and tastes like the most delectable truffle you’ve ever eaten. It can be used as a filling, sauce, frosting, glaze, or as a dip. The term ‘ganache’ simply means chocolate cream filling because it is only made with two ingredients: chocolate and cream. The chocolate can be white, milk, or semi-sweet. If all of that wasn’t amazing enough, ganache actually transforms at different temperature points. When warm, it is able to be poured. When cool, it is spreadable and has the ability to be piped with piping tips. Absolutely incredible!
Can You Add Extra Flavor?
Yes! There are several ways you can incorporate additional flavors into your ganache. While the cream is hot, you can add herbs, spices, or liquids such as coffee. If you’d like a fruity twist, try substituting some of the cream for fresh fruit puree. Or, simply add spices, extracts, liqueurs, or citrus zest to the final product. It is exciting to think of all the possibilities. Experiment and create your own delicious combination!
Tips
- Chocolate quality – The quality of chocolate is important. It is best to use a chocolate baking bar that is sold in the baking aisle (Ghirardelli, Baker’s). My favorite is semi-sweet which is about 40%-60% cacao. It is not as sweet as milk chocolate but anything over 60% may be too bitter. Chocolate chips are not recommended as they do not yield the best results but can be used in a pinch.
- Chopped chocolate – Using a serrated knife, chop the chocolate into very small pieces. The smaller the better! This will help the chocolate melt faster.
- Heavy Cream – Heavy cream is essential for the ganache to work properly. Whole milk or any other substitutes will be too runny and not set. Also, take care when heating the cream. You do not want it to boil as chocolate tends to seize if the cream is too hot. You’ll want it to steam and form tiny bubbles just around the edges but not boil.
My Preferred Tools
You may already have many of these items in your kitchen. I recommend the following for this recipe:
- Kitchen Scale – precisely measure ingredients
- Cake Pans – to bake cake
- Cooling Racks – to cool cake and dishwasher friendly!!
- Cake Strips – to achieve level cakes
- Cake Turntable and Spatulas – excellent for decorating cakes
- Wilton Decorating Kit – piping tips, bags, couplers, and more for decorating cakes
- Master Decorating Kit – ultimate cake decorating tip set
- Cake Scraper Set – use these to scrape icing and create fun, easy designs on your cakes
- Cake Boards – sturdy, cardboard cake boards used to pick up your cake
Chocolate Ganache Pairs Well With
Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate Ganache is smooth, silky, shiny and tastes like the most delectable truffle you've ever eaten. It can be used as a filling, sauce, frosting, glaze, or as a dip.
Ingredients
- 2 (4 oz) high quality semi-sweet chocolate baking bars (Ghirardelli, Baker's), chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
Directions
- Step 1 Chop chocolate into very small pieces with a serrated knife. Place in a medium heat-safe bowl. Set aside.
- Step 2 In a saucepan, heat cream on medium-low heat until steaming and small bubbles appear just on the sides. Do not let boil. Remove from heat and pour over chopped chocolate. Let it sit, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
- Step 3 With a spoon or spatula, gently and slowly stir chocolate and cream until melted and fully incorporated.
- Step 4 Double recipe if frosting 2 layer cake.
- Step 5 If using on cake as a glaze or for dipping, let cool for about 10-15 minutes, then use as desired.
- Step 6 To make spreadable, cool for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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